waynebretl@bretl.comI am a Principal Engineer in the Electronic Systems R&D department at Zenith Electronics. This is a dual-ladder technical position reporting to the Vice President of Technology. I lead a number of engineers and technicians, usually varying from 5 to 20, on one or more projects. This R&D group was part of the "Grand Alliance" that developed the digital television and HDTV system for the United States.
Right now I lead a diverse group of engineers in VSB technology support and promotion. Some current projects of this group include demonstrations of VSB and enhanced VSB technology both in the U.S. and abroad; interfacing with the testing organizations and standards organizations that are developing the data on competing systems for eventual selection of enhancements to the U.S. digital television standards; analysis and oversight of the test results; seminars for broadcasters throughout the U.S.; papers written by myself and by my direct reports for various consumer and broadcast technical venues.
I have been involved with Consumer Electronics since graduating from Illinois Institute of Technology, and I am an expert in television systems and theory, analog and digital communications, color reproduction, and MPEG digital video coding. (See a comprehensive MPEG Tutorial written by Mark Fimoff and myself: )
I hold more than 15 patents, and have published more than 15 papers, including two award winning papers on digital television transmission.
I often represent the company in national and international standards forums, and also participate in the writing of company position papers not personally attributed. I have served as a representative of the United States delegation to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
I am a member of several professional organizations, including IEEE, SMPTE, AES, and SID.
My interest in imaging spills over into my hobbies of photography, computer graphics, and reconstruction of early mechanical television systems. I enjoy automobile trips and take more pictures on them than anyone I know.
